Chapter 7
- Location
- The INTERNET!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
"Bullshit."
"I'm not joking, everything I do is through a menu interface. I even have a help popup that explains things when I ask." I explain, a little bit exasperated.
Tattletale lounged on the bed in the cell my core was currently mounted in - B7, opposite my previous core room of Cell A8. I felt relatively safe here, at least until I finished my expansion plans. The double doors leading into Cell Block B were blocked by a two foot thick wall of rebar-reinforced concrete I had created, and the only path into the cell block was the hidden passage going from Cell A1 to B2, which was full of Slimes, a tactic that had proved quite effective earlier. Lisa had smirked knowingly when one of my zombies lead her into the passageway, but other than that had said little, just looking around in fascination as I led her down the corridor, stepping around the gravestones that had popped up when I designated the room as a Graveyard. That upgrade alone saved me 25% of the initial cost of Undead and Unholy Devices, which made me quite happy indeed.
"So what you are trying to tell me is that all this, everything you have set up, has been like a dungeon building RPG?" Lisa asked incredulously, idly spinning a sealed test-tube filled with Mana Potion around her fingers.
"Precisely." I currently have my voice seemingly centered at my Core, out of politeness, if nothing else. "And I am currently trying to decide what to do with 506 MP that would help in my current situation."
"Ooh? That's a lot?" Lisa asked, sitting up. Her eyes sparked with interest. I had noticed that since she had bonded with me, that she seemed less inclined to grimace or rub her temples, but I wasn't going to draw attention to it.
"Yes, quite a lot. Orders of magnitude higher than where I was starting out. Only a few hours ago, I was excited that my regeneration was more than 5 MP/hour, and now I get more than 350." I wish I could make facial expressions with anything other than my zombies. A good grimace would work wonders right now. "I'm concerned though. I'm at a turning point, and I can't quite decide what to do. What do you think Coil will do next?"
Lisa grinned. Something inside me leapt in kinship, a brotherhood of evil smirks initiating a new member. A lesser man may call that smirk vulpine, but I know wolfish hunger when I see it. "Oh, Coil is pissed. He thought I was his little pet Thinker, and now you've stolen me. So he's going to start pulling out the big guns."
"Like the one the tall guy was carrying? I rather like that one, it's getting incorporated into my higher-level Turrets." Miss the point, Dungeon, she's obviously wanting to explain things.
Tattletale snorted. "Handheld Miniguns are rather effective against a lot of things, but Coil is going to start bringing in capes - people with powers - to try and kill you, rather than just sending in mercenaries to get you under control."
"Yes, you mentioned that people can have superpowers." The word feels odd. Like part of me is really excited, and another part can't quite grasp it, and wants to say magic instead. "What should I expect?"
Lisa tapped her chin in thought. "Well, first of all, Coil is a Thinker. I don't know exactly how it works, but what he experiences is that he can choose to split the timeline at any point, make two different choices, and see how those timelines play out in real time. He can then choose to end whichever timeline he likes the least." A grimace. "It's a pain to deal with, and to be honest, I am not entirely certain why he chose to keep this timeline, unless he hasn't chosen yet and I'm currently being simulated…" She shakes her head. "No point in worrying about that, it's' bad enough without an existential crisis."
"Welcome to my last 12 hours." I deadpan.
My guest giggles slightly. "I bet. Not sure what I would do in your shoes." Lisa's smile fades slightly, before reciting in a slight sing-song. "Mover, Shaker, Brute and Breaker, Thinker, Tinker, Striker, Trump. Changer, Stranger, Blaster, Master; Parahumans, count them up." She blushes a little. "Elementary school play. Anyway, I would be most concerned about Brutes and Blasters. Those are parahumans with enhanced strength and durability, or with the ability to do damage at range, and they are likely the most immediate danger to you and your units."
"So Fighters and Wizards, got it."
Lisa's eyes roll. "God, you're worse than Uber and Leet." She pauses for a moment, shakes her head, and continues. "You should counter Strangers and Masters, and your interaction with Thinker powers is just weird. I don't know if it's a hard counter, the longer I spend in here, the better my power seems to understand you, but it should still put a crimp on Coil's usual.... style...." The look of dawning glee on her face was a wonder to behold. "I don't know exactly how you're doing it, but something about your Mana means that what Coil experiences when he simulates you doesn't match what actually happens! The snake bastard is fucked!" Lisa giggles in wicked glee for a few moments, before continuing. "The other categories are all dependant on the details of the power. Offhand, I think that Coil only has a couple of capes on his payroll that he can easily deploy. Circus is a bit of a grab-bag, better at breaking and entering than outright assault, but they have enhanced agility, a dimensional storage container, and the ability to throw fireballs."
"So, more like a Rogue with a wand of Fireball, then?" I tease.
"Shut up." Lisa throws a pillow at my core with a laugh. "The other is Trainwreck, a Brute/Tinker who is actually infiltrating the Merchants at the moment, but will likely be recalled. He creates powered armor for himself out of junk, but I think he depends on it to survive. He would be tough, but large and clumsy, and your slimes should be able to damage and get inside the armor." She glares at you for a moment. "You do know what powered armor is, right?"
"Yes, I can actually unlock a Mech once I construct enough Machine units."
"Really? That's some bullshit right there. Armsmaster would hate you."
"Armsmaster?"
"Ah, he's with the Protectorate. Great Tinker, and a pretty renowned hero, but he's got a bit of an inferiority complex with people that he perceives as not having to work hard to improve themselves, and he's not great with people overall." Lisa explains. "But since he's a hero, I doubt that you'll have to deal with him any time soon."
"Anyway, you suspect that Coil can bring in a Thief with fireballs and a Warrior/Artificer?" I ask. "That doesn't seem like enough."
There's a long pause. "No. He won't think so, either." Lisa stares at the tube of Mana Potion in her hands, her brow creased in thought. "He's got other capes coming. Ones that he was planning to bring in earlier, but he's almost certainly accelerating his plans now. You're taking over his base, taking his things, and so now he's got to take you down." She grimaces. "I'm not much help. Not against brutes."
"Knowing is half the battle." I state calmly. "Knowing that something is coming is better than not knowing. I've been preparing blindly based on my best guesses, and now I actually have a little bit of information about what's going on out there."
Lisa grins weakly. "Sorry… Just." She shudders. "Just wanting to make sure that I haven't hitched my rope to a sinking ship." I want to give her a hug, but the best I can do is have the thin blanket on the bed drape itself over her and squeeze slightly. I idly consider having one of my female zombies come and help hug my new friend, but decide against it. Zombie hugs are not very comforting.
"I get it." I say softly after a long moment. "Coil is a bastard, and he's sneaky, and he'll keep trying until he wins or dies." Injecting as much vindictive glee as I can into my voice, I continue. "That's why I'm going to grow until he can't kill me, and then we're marching out of here and killing him ourselves."
Lisa snorts. "Core, you don't have feet." Her weak smile seems a little more genuine now. "But… Thanks."
"Core." I say softly. "I don't remember having a name, really. But Core will work for now."
"Thank you, Lisa. That means a lot." I pull up my list of available Floor Themes in my menu. "So, maybe you can give me a little input on this."
With a little focus, I create a paper with the descriptions on it for Lisa, and she snatches it out of mid-air. "Right now, I'm torn between the Iron Crypt and the Theatre of the Damned." I explain. "It seems like it's more important than just atmosphere."
Lisa's eyes dart to my Core and then back to the paper, lowering it. "You said that the Unholy Devices were all really durable and could do a lot of damage, right?"
"Yes. I already have some, the mercenaries you came in with are all Skeletal Soldiers now."
"What's the Mad Science Lab?" Lisa asks.
"Ah, it lets me make modifications to some of my Unholy Device units, and makes all of them cheaper to summon. I can't quite get it yet, need to build a Mechanic's Shop first." I have plenty of space, and the Mechanic's Shop is fairly cheap, only 50 MP, so that would be quite simple to do. I pull up my list of available room upgrades, create another sheet of paper with the descriptions, and float it over to her.
Lisa glances over the paper quickly, then rereads it slowly, flipping back and forth between the Floor Themes and Room Upgrades, before looking up and staring at my core for a while. I idly swirl my mana inside the crystal sphere, branching fractal patterns in three dimensions that swirl and curl in on themselves, before expanding into new shapes. "Why are you conflicted?" She asks eventually. Her voice is soft, a little concerned.
It takes a moment to put my thoughts together. "I want to survive." In front of a mirrored wall hidden in a distant room, a restless zombie wearing spandex shifts from squats to long stretches, groaning angrily at its subordinates when their rotting joints hesitate to allow the same range of motion. "But I also want to live." A band of five skeletons in tuxedos tune instruments made of bones and sinew. "I don't have much experience with life, but I feel like…" A rattle of music starts echoing through my halls, a drumbeat, followed by strings and a melancholy saxophone. "If I don't have fun, what's the point, even if I'm not going about things as efficiently as I can?"
Lisa smiles softly. "Sounds like you made up your mind, then."
Realization dawns. "Yes. I suppose I have." Oh, if only I could grin! "Set Dungeon Theme to: Theatre of the Damned!" I crow, and the blue box appears before me.
Yes, damn it.
I feel my walls shudder. Like something is… Wrong. I feel sick to my Core.
Lisa is looking around wildly at the shaking walls. "What's going on?"
I grit my teeth, metaphorically speaking, and cancel the upgrade. To my relief the walls stop trembling. "Wasn't quite ready. Need to make some changes to my floor plan."
Lisa gives my core a deadpan look. "Let me guess. Not enough like a theater?"
I wince, glad that she can't see it. "Yeah. I have some ideas, though." Casting my thoughts outward, I look down on my current layout. The mirrored cell blocks, A and B, with a hidden corridor between them would have to go. Good riddance, frankly. Too many bad memories. I like what I had done with the corridors leading off of my old core room, Cell A8. The connecting room leading to the fifty foot long hallway filled with slimes was quite nice, and if I had needed it, there was a 10 foot by 20 foot room at the end of that one with a pair of gun turrets, leading into another fifty foot hallway leading back up towards the main dungeon. That hallway was where the bulk of my zombies and skeletons had been lurking, hidden in little five by five closets spaced on either side of the hallway, ready to ambush attackers. At the end of that hallway was another 10 foot by 20 foot room with a pair of gun turrets, which had a pair of double doors leading into a room that was dramatically different from any of my other rooms.
Forty feet long and twenty wide, the Macabre Academy of Arts was a combination music room and dance studio, with dusty wooden floors and stained, cracked mirrors lining one of the long walls. On one of the short sides, a three-level platform stood, where my small band of Skeletal Musicians had been warming up until I got the warning about an upcoming invasion. Other than that, the bare wooden floor was empty, save for a nimble Tier 2 Zombie Dance Instructor wearing a tattered baby blue spandex leotard and flourescent orange legwarmers, who was doing stretches in the mirror, groaning angrily at the trio of subordinate Zombie back-up dancers. The quartet of Zombies had spawned with the room, and couldn't leave, but acted as room guardians. I had considered putting my core in here.... But some instinct warned me against it, so I had hidden myself in the second cell block.
Pros: Narrow corridors, preventing large groups from getting to me, and reducing the chance for my enemies to escape my less nimble units.
Cons: A largely linear pathway that could let more powerful enemies destroy most of my units while they are spread out, and relies on trickery to keep me safe.
Eh, I can do better.
So.
I mentally crack my knuckles, found it less than satisfying, and have the Zombie Dance Instructor do it for me, before pulling my skeletal musicians to the band stand. As they start to play, a low thrumming of strings and drums that threatens to burst into a martial crescendo, I glance at my status.
506 MP. 4460 square feet of area. 24 units.
That will all change soon.
"Hold onto your hat, Lisa. Things are about to get interesting." I expand, filling in the gaps between my rooms before stretching out further, my area growing in leaps and bounds, digging out and down, broader, longer, deeper, only waiting long enough for my mana to refill, my pools and regeneration growing larger for every square foot.
Elsewhere, Coil tosses in his sleep, struck by an uncomfortable feeling of encroaching doom. Grue calls a phone number for the seventh time and gets no answer, before turning to the other Undersiders and shaking his head. An enclosed semi-trailer with a long sleeper cab begins approaching Brockton Bay, the passengers dozing fitfully as the truck bounces on the ill-maintained road. A mercenary lies sleepless in an underground bunker, pondering life, death – and wondering if the pay is really worth it. A pair of geeks stand in front of a whiteboard, sketching enthusiastically, after a call with a job unlike anything they had ever hoped for.
Soon, the Theatre of the Damned will have its Grand Opening, and everything will change.
AN:. Sorry about the delay. Things came up.
"I'm not joking, everything I do is through a menu interface. I even have a help popup that explains things when I ask." I explain, a little bit exasperated.
Tattletale lounged on the bed in the cell my core was currently mounted in - B7, opposite my previous core room of Cell A8. I felt relatively safe here, at least until I finished my expansion plans. The double doors leading into Cell Block B were blocked by a two foot thick wall of rebar-reinforced concrete I had created, and the only path into the cell block was the hidden passage going from Cell A1 to B2, which was full of Slimes, a tactic that had proved quite effective earlier. Lisa had smirked knowingly when one of my zombies lead her into the passageway, but other than that had said little, just looking around in fascination as I led her down the corridor, stepping around the gravestones that had popped up when I designated the room as a Graveyard. That upgrade alone saved me 25% of the initial cost of Undead and Unholy Devices, which made me quite happy indeed.
"So what you are trying to tell me is that all this, everything you have set up, has been like a dungeon building RPG?" Lisa asked incredulously, idly spinning a sealed test-tube filled with Mana Potion around her fingers.
"Precisely." I currently have my voice seemingly centered at my Core, out of politeness, if nothing else. "And I am currently trying to decide what to do with 506 MP that would help in my current situation."
"Ooh? That's a lot?" Lisa asked, sitting up. Her eyes sparked with interest. I had noticed that since she had bonded with me, that she seemed less inclined to grimace or rub her temples, but I wasn't going to draw attention to it.
"Yes, quite a lot. Orders of magnitude higher than where I was starting out. Only a few hours ago, I was excited that my regeneration was more than 5 MP/hour, and now I get more than 350." I wish I could make facial expressions with anything other than my zombies. A good grimace would work wonders right now. "I'm concerned though. I'm at a turning point, and I can't quite decide what to do. What do you think Coil will do next?"
Lisa grinned. Something inside me leapt in kinship, a brotherhood of evil smirks initiating a new member. A lesser man may call that smirk vulpine, but I know wolfish hunger when I see it. "Oh, Coil is pissed. He thought I was his little pet Thinker, and now you've stolen me. So he's going to start pulling out the big guns."
"Like the one the tall guy was carrying? I rather like that one, it's getting incorporated into my higher-level Turrets." Miss the point, Dungeon, she's obviously wanting to explain things.
Tattletale snorted. "Handheld Miniguns are rather effective against a lot of things, but Coil is going to start bringing in capes - people with powers - to try and kill you, rather than just sending in mercenaries to get you under control."
"Yes, you mentioned that people can have superpowers." The word feels odd. Like part of me is really excited, and another part can't quite grasp it, and wants to say magic instead. "What should I expect?"
Lisa tapped her chin in thought. "Well, first of all, Coil is a Thinker. I don't know exactly how it works, but what he experiences is that he can choose to split the timeline at any point, make two different choices, and see how those timelines play out in real time. He can then choose to end whichever timeline he likes the least." A grimace. "It's a pain to deal with, and to be honest, I am not entirely certain why he chose to keep this timeline, unless he hasn't chosen yet and I'm currently being simulated…" She shakes her head. "No point in worrying about that, it's' bad enough without an existential crisis."
"Welcome to my last 12 hours." I deadpan.
My guest giggles slightly. "I bet. Not sure what I would do in your shoes." Lisa's smile fades slightly, before reciting in a slight sing-song. "Mover, Shaker, Brute and Breaker, Thinker, Tinker, Striker, Trump. Changer, Stranger, Blaster, Master; Parahumans, count them up." She blushes a little. "Elementary school play. Anyway, I would be most concerned about Brutes and Blasters. Those are parahumans with enhanced strength and durability, or with the ability to do damage at range, and they are likely the most immediate danger to you and your units."
"So Fighters and Wizards, got it."
Lisa's eyes roll. "God, you're worse than Uber and Leet." She pauses for a moment, shakes her head, and continues. "You should counter Strangers and Masters, and your interaction with Thinker powers is just weird. I don't know if it's a hard counter, the longer I spend in here, the better my power seems to understand you, but it should still put a crimp on Coil's usual.... style...." The look of dawning glee on her face was a wonder to behold. "I don't know exactly how you're doing it, but something about your Mana means that what Coil experiences when he simulates you doesn't match what actually happens! The snake bastard is fucked!" Lisa giggles in wicked glee for a few moments, before continuing. "The other categories are all dependant on the details of the power. Offhand, I think that Coil only has a couple of capes on his payroll that he can easily deploy. Circus is a bit of a grab-bag, better at breaking and entering than outright assault, but they have enhanced agility, a dimensional storage container, and the ability to throw fireballs."
"So, more like a Rogue with a wand of Fireball, then?" I tease.
"Shut up." Lisa throws a pillow at my core with a laugh. "The other is Trainwreck, a Brute/Tinker who is actually infiltrating the Merchants at the moment, but will likely be recalled. He creates powered armor for himself out of junk, but I think he depends on it to survive. He would be tough, but large and clumsy, and your slimes should be able to damage and get inside the armor." She glares at you for a moment. "You do know what powered armor is, right?"
"Yes, I can actually unlock a Mech once I construct enough Machine units."
"Really? That's some bullshit right there. Armsmaster would hate you."
"Armsmaster?"
"Ah, he's with the Protectorate. Great Tinker, and a pretty renowned hero, but he's got a bit of an inferiority complex with people that he perceives as not having to work hard to improve themselves, and he's not great with people overall." Lisa explains. "But since he's a hero, I doubt that you'll have to deal with him any time soon."
"Anyway, you suspect that Coil can bring in a Thief with fireballs and a Warrior/Artificer?" I ask. "That doesn't seem like enough."
There's a long pause. "No. He won't think so, either." Lisa stares at the tube of Mana Potion in her hands, her brow creased in thought. "He's got other capes coming. Ones that he was planning to bring in earlier, but he's almost certainly accelerating his plans now. You're taking over his base, taking his things, and so now he's got to take you down." She grimaces. "I'm not much help. Not against brutes."
"Knowing is half the battle." I state calmly. "Knowing that something is coming is better than not knowing. I've been preparing blindly based on my best guesses, and now I actually have a little bit of information about what's going on out there."
Lisa grins weakly. "Sorry… Just." She shudders. "Just wanting to make sure that I haven't hitched my rope to a sinking ship." I want to give her a hug, but the best I can do is have the thin blanket on the bed drape itself over her and squeeze slightly. I idly consider having one of my female zombies come and help hug my new friend, but decide against it. Zombie hugs are not very comforting.
"I get it." I say softly after a long moment. "Coil is a bastard, and he's sneaky, and he'll keep trying until he wins or dies." Injecting as much vindictive glee as I can into my voice, I continue. "That's why I'm going to grow until he can't kill me, and then we're marching out of here and killing him ourselves."
Lisa snorts. "Core, you don't have feet." Her weak smile seems a little more genuine now. "But… Thanks."
"Core." I say softly. "I don't remember having a name, really. But Core will work for now."
"Thank you, Lisa. That means a lot." I pull up my list of available Floor Themes in my menu. "So, maybe you can give me a little input on this."
Floor Themes said:
With a little focus, I create a paper with the descriptions on it for Lisa, and she snatches it out of mid-air. "Right now, I'm torn between the Iron Crypt and the Theatre of the Damned." I explain. "It seems like it's more important than just atmosphere."
Lisa's eyes dart to my Core and then back to the paper, lowering it. "You said that the Unholy Devices were all really durable and could do a lot of damage, right?"
"Yes. I already have some, the mercenaries you came in with are all Skeletal Soldiers now."
"What's the Mad Science Lab?" Lisa asks.
"Ah, it lets me make modifications to some of my Unholy Device units, and makes all of them cheaper to summon. I can't quite get it yet, need to build a Mechanic's Shop first." I have plenty of space, and the Mechanic's Shop is fairly cheap, only 50 MP, so that would be quite simple to do. I pull up my list of available room upgrades, create another sheet of paper with the descriptions, and float it over to her.
Effect: Adds additional 50 MP/hour.
Requirements: None.
Limitations: Can have no more Mana Taps than your current Dungeon Level (currently 4/5)
Cost: 10 MP
Description: A deeper connection to the Mana flowing between worlds causes the excess to flow into your dungeon. As a side effect, produces a constant trickle of Mana Potion that can be looted and consumed by intruders.
Requirements: None.
Limitations: Can have no more Mana Taps than your current Dungeon Level (currently 4/5)
Cost: 10 MP
Description: A deeper connection to the Mana flowing between worlds causes the excess to flow into your dungeon. As a side effect, produces a constant trickle of Mana Potion that can be looted and consumed by intruders.
Effect: Reduces initial MP cost of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Undead by 25%.
Requirements: Necrophile achievement
Limitations: Effect does not stack with other Graveyards.
Cost: 50 MP
Description: Faded tombstones jut up from the floor, forcing invaders to go around. Skeletal hands may erupt from the soft soil to delay foes, if allowed by the Floor Theme.
Requirements: Necrophile achievement
Limitations: Effect does not stack with other Graveyards.
Cost: 50 MP
Description: Faded tombstones jut up from the floor, forcing invaders to go around. Skeletal hands may erupt from the soft soil to delay foes, if allowed by the Floor Theme.
Effect: Necromantic energy gradually damages living foes that enter this room, adding to your MP. Intensifies active Fear effects. Can be toggled on and off.
Requirements: Necrophile
Limitations: Cannot be applied to a room with an existing upgrade, cannot kill intruders without assistance.
Cost: 25 MP
Description: A cold mist fills the air, impairing visibility and draining the energy and life force of any foes who enter.
Requirements: Necrophile
Limitations: Cannot be applied to a room with an existing upgrade, cannot kill intruders without assistance.
Cost: 25 MP
Description: A cold mist fills the air, impairing visibility and draining the energy and life force of any foes who enter.
Effect: Reduces upkeep costs on all Tier 1-3 Undead and Unholy Devices by .25 MP/Hour. Spawns 8 Temple Guardians (4 Skeleton Warrior, 2 Skeleton Mage, 2 Skeleton Archer)
Requirements: Graveyard, Necrophile achievement, room with at least 1000 square feet in area.
Limitations: Does not stack with other Necropolis. Spawned units cannot leave room.
Cost: 175 MP
Description: - An unholy temple, deep below the earth, celebrating the restless dead. Columns hold up the high ceiling and obstruct fields of view, coffins line the walls, and cold torches cast dim lights that only make the shadows grow deeper.
Requirements: Graveyard, Necrophile achievement, room with at least 1000 square feet in area.
Limitations: Does not stack with other Necropolis. Spawned units cannot leave room.
Cost: 175 MP
Description: - An unholy temple, deep below the earth, celebrating the restless dead. Columns hold up the high ceiling and obstruct fields of view, coffins line the walls, and cold torches cast dim lights that only make the shadows grow deeper.
Effect: enhances all Skeletons' ability to reassemble, letting them reassemble with bones from other Skeleton Units with no penalty. Skeleton units can temporarily combine into Bone Beasts, but must reform into individual units after 2 minutes.
Requirements: Necrophile
Limitations: Additional Skeletal Sanctums do not have any effect.
Cost: 50 MP
Description: A room full of random human bones, piled in heaps and drifts. Spring into life as a Bone Beast Room Guardian that cannot leave the room if intruders enter.
Requirements: Necrophile
Limitations: Additional Skeletal Sanctums do not have any effect.
Cost: 50 MP
Description: A room full of random human bones, piled in heaps and drifts. Spring into life as a Bone Beast Room Guardian that cannot leave the room if intruders enter.
Effect: Converts undead and Unholy Devices into music-themed variations automatically. Spawns Zombie Dance Instructor (tier 2 Vigorous Zombie) and 3 Zombie Backup Dancers that respawn automatically and don't count towards unit count, but cannot leave the MAA.
Requirements: Necrophile, deliberately using conventional Undead units to create music for significant lengths of time.
Limitations: Can only have one Macabre Academy of Arts
Cost: 50 MP
Description: - a decaying choral training academy, music room and dance Studio.
Requirements: Necrophile, deliberately using conventional Undead units to create music for significant lengths of time.
Limitations: Can only have one Macabre Academy of Arts
Cost: 50 MP
Description: - a decaying choral training academy, music room and dance Studio.
Effect: Reduces cost of all Drone units by 25%, automatically respawns destroyed drones at no cost.
Requirements: Tech Enthusiast
Limitations: All new Drones spawn from this location.
Cost: 25 MP
Description: A small room with an assembly line in miniature. The robotic arms can act defensively against invaders.
Requirements: Tech Enthusiast
Limitations: All new Drones spawn from this location.
Cost: 25 MP
Description: A small room with an assembly line in miniature. The robotic arms can act defensively against invaders.
Effect: Reduces Upkeep cost of up to 10 Turrets to 0 MP/Hour.
Requirements: Tech Enthusiast
Limitations: Enemies can destroy components in this room, crippling turrets until it is repaired.
Cost: 50 MP
Description: A dim room filled with humming computers and screens showing the point of view of multiple turrets.
Requirements: Tech Enthusiast
Limitations: Enemies can destroy components in this room, crippling turrets until it is repaired.
Cost: 50 MP
Description: A dim room filled with humming computers and screens showing the point of view of multiple turrets.
Effect: Reduces initial cost of spawning Machine units by 25%, repairs damaged machines within this room automatically.
Requirements: Tech Enthusiast
Limitations: Cost reduction does not stack with multiple rooms, has lootable components
Cost: 50 MP
Description: A grungy room filled with parts of various machine units and robotic assembly arms that assemble new units and repair old ones. The robotic arms can use their tools to defend the room.
Requirements: Tech Enthusiast
Limitations: Cost reduction does not stack with multiple rooms, has lootable components
Cost: 50 MP
Description: A grungy room filled with parts of various machine units and robotic assembly arms that assemble new units and repair old ones. The robotic arms can use their tools to defend the room.
Effect: reduces initial MP cost of Tier 1-3 Unholy Devices by 25%. Allows built in equipment or weapons for Cyberzombies and Frankenborg. Allows Iron Crypt Floor Theme.
Requirements: Graveyard, Mechanic's Shop
Limitations: Effect does not stack with other rooms.
Cost: 100 MP
Description: A grotesque room, full of mechanical components, rotting body parts, crackling electricity, and other, darker things. A rotating metal operating table with thick leather straps dominates the room, and can trap enemy humanoids that stumble onto it.
Requirements: Graveyard, Mechanic's Shop
Limitations: Effect does not stack with other rooms.
Cost: 100 MP
Description: A grotesque room, full of mechanical components, rotting body parts, crackling electricity, and other, darker things. A rotating metal operating table with thick leather straps dominates the room, and can trap enemy humanoids that stumble onto it.
Lisa glances over the paper quickly, then rereads it slowly, flipping back and forth between the Floor Themes and Room Upgrades, before looking up and staring at my core for a while. I idly swirl my mana inside the crystal sphere, branching fractal patterns in three dimensions that swirl and curl in on themselves, before expanding into new shapes. "Why are you conflicted?" She asks eventually. Her voice is soft, a little concerned.
It takes a moment to put my thoughts together. "I want to survive." In front of a mirrored wall hidden in a distant room, a restless zombie wearing spandex shifts from squats to long stretches, groaning angrily at its subordinates when their rotting joints hesitate to allow the same range of motion. "But I also want to live." A band of five skeletons in tuxedos tune instruments made of bones and sinew. "I don't have much experience with life, but I feel like…" A rattle of music starts echoing through my halls, a drumbeat, followed by strings and a melancholy saxophone. "If I don't have fun, what's the point, even if I'm not going about things as efficiently as I can?"
Lisa smiles softly. "Sounds like you made up your mind, then."
Realization dawns. "Yes. I suppose I have." Oh, if only I could grin! "Set Dungeon Theme to: Theatre of the Damned!" I crow, and the blue box appears before me.
Yes, damn it.
I feel my walls shudder. Like something is… Wrong. I feel sick to my Core.
Lisa is looking around wildly at the shaking walls. "What's going on?"
I grit my teeth, metaphorically speaking, and cancel the upgrade. To my relief the walls stop trembling. "Wasn't quite ready. Need to make some changes to my floor plan."
Lisa gives my core a deadpan look. "Let me guess. Not enough like a theater?"
I wince, glad that she can't see it. "Yeah. I have some ideas, though." Casting my thoughts outward, I look down on my current layout. The mirrored cell blocks, A and B, with a hidden corridor between them would have to go. Good riddance, frankly. Too many bad memories. I like what I had done with the corridors leading off of my old core room, Cell A8. The connecting room leading to the fifty foot long hallway filled with slimes was quite nice, and if I had needed it, there was a 10 foot by 20 foot room at the end of that one with a pair of gun turrets, leading into another fifty foot hallway leading back up towards the main dungeon. That hallway was where the bulk of my zombies and skeletons had been lurking, hidden in little five by five closets spaced on either side of the hallway, ready to ambush attackers. At the end of that hallway was another 10 foot by 20 foot room with a pair of gun turrets, which had a pair of double doors leading into a room that was dramatically different from any of my other rooms.
Forty feet long and twenty wide, the Macabre Academy of Arts was a combination music room and dance studio, with dusty wooden floors and stained, cracked mirrors lining one of the long walls. On one of the short sides, a three-level platform stood, where my small band of Skeletal Musicians had been warming up until I got the warning about an upcoming invasion. Other than that, the bare wooden floor was empty, save for a nimble Tier 2 Zombie Dance Instructor wearing a tattered baby blue spandex leotard and flourescent orange legwarmers, who was doing stretches in the mirror, groaning angrily at the trio of subordinate Zombie back-up dancers. The quartet of Zombies had spawned with the room, and couldn't leave, but acted as room guardians. I had considered putting my core in here.... But some instinct warned me against it, so I had hidden myself in the second cell block.
Pros: Narrow corridors, preventing large groups from getting to me, and reducing the chance for my enemies to escape my less nimble units.
Cons: A largely linear pathway that could let more powerful enemies destroy most of my units while they are spread out, and relies on trickery to keep me safe.
Eh, I can do better.
So.
I mentally crack my knuckles, found it less than satisfying, and have the Zombie Dance Instructor do it for me, before pulling my skeletal musicians to the band stand. As they start to play, a low thrumming of strings and drums that threatens to burst into a martial crescendo, I glance at my status.
506 MP. 4460 square feet of area. 24 units.
That will all change soon.
"Hold onto your hat, Lisa. Things are about to get interesting." I expand, filling in the gaps between my rooms before stretching out further, my area growing in leaps and bounds, digging out and down, broader, longer, deeper, only waiting long enough for my mana to refill, my pools and regeneration growing larger for every square foot.
Elsewhere, Coil tosses in his sleep, struck by an uncomfortable feeling of encroaching doom. Grue calls a phone number for the seventh time and gets no answer, before turning to the other Undersiders and shaking his head. An enclosed semi-trailer with a long sleeper cab begins approaching Brockton Bay, the passengers dozing fitfully as the truck bounces on the ill-maintained road. A mercenary lies sleepless in an underground bunker, pondering life, death – and wondering if the pay is really worth it. A pair of geeks stand in front of a whiteboard, sketching enthusiastically, after a call with a job unlike anything they had ever hoped for.
Soon, the Theatre of the Damned will have its Grand Opening, and everything will change.
AN:. Sorry about the delay. Things came up.
